This invention relates to a mount of an electrical connector for firmly mounting the connector on an electrical appliance having circuit and panel boards.
With electrical or electronic appliances, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 one connector body 20 of an electrical connector 10 is often mounted on a circuit board 1 arranged in an electrical appliance in a manner such that a mating connector socket 21a forming part of the housing 21 of the connector body 20 as its outer casing is positioned in and spaced from a connector opening 2a formed in a panel plate 2 as part of a casing of the electrical appliance, thereby enabling a mating connector 30 to be inserted into the mating connector socket 21a of the housing 21.
The housing 21 forming the outer casing of the connector body 20 is made of a metallic material, for example, a copper plate coated with nickel plating or solder layer. As shown in FIG. 7, the housing 21 is provided on its bottom side with a plurality of legs 22 for fixing the housing to the circuit board 1. The legs 22 are fitted in fixing apertures (through-holes) formed in the circuit board 1 at predetermined positions and then fixed there at by soldering.
Such a soldering can be simply performed, for example, by moving along the surface of molten solder in a bath the circuit board 1 having the connector body 20 temporarily fixed thereto. This soldering method is effective owing to its high productivity and ensures the reliable fixation of a connector body 20 to the circuit board 1 substantially with a sufficient strength.
Therefore, even if the housing 21 of the connector body 20 is only positioned in and spaced from the connector opening 2a of the panel plate 2 in the manner described above, no troubles occur in use, so long as the mating connector 30 is accurately inserted into the socket 21a of the housing 21 taking particular precautions.
However, problems will arise with any inaccurate insertion of the mating connector 30 into the socket 21a, for example, in oblique directions misaligned with the correct insertion axis in every direction, or mishandling insertion. With such cases, the connector body 20 and the circuit board 1 fixed thereto by soldering would be subjected to great mechanical loads to the fullest extent of the freedom of the housing 21 relative to the panel plate 2.
Such mechanical loads will repeatedly act upon the two members every time when the mating connector 30 is connected and disconnected to and from the connector body 20. As a result, there is a risk of failures such as cracks and peelings in connections between printed circuits on the circuit board 1 and contacts of the connector body 20, and even in the printed circuits themselves.
To prevent this, it is conceivable that the socket 21a of the housing 21 is partially cut and bent to form flanges along the front and rear faces of the panel plate 2 and then the flanges are fixed to the panel plate by set screws. In many cases, however, the panel plate forms a casing of an electrical appliance so that it is in general made of a metallic material. With the electrical appliance requiring to electrically insulate between the panel plate 2 and the connector body 20, therefore, it is impossible to employ the fixing method for the housing 21 using the flanges extending therefrom.
To solve this problem, it is also conceivable that clamp members made of a resin are previously secured to the outer periphery of the housing 21 of the connector body 20 for fixing the housing 21 to the panel plate 2 maintaining the electrical insulation therebetween. As described above, however, the connector body must be moved along the surface of molten solder in a bath at high temperatures in the soldering process, so that the clamp members made of the resin are likely to be deformed due to the exposure to the high temperature, making difficult the handling of the clamp members. If a resin much higher in heat resistance is used for the clamp members, this problem may be solved. However, it may probably limit the resins to be used for the clamp members, increasing the cost of the connector.